Marine mammal rescuers in British Columbia are urgently searching for an entangled humpback whale in the waters off northern Vancouver Island. The three-year-old whale, named Vector, was photographed by a wildlife tour operator on Friday in Johnstone Strait near Campbell River. The photos show a length of rope or fishing gear tightly wrapped around the whale.
A cropped photo of the entangled humpback whale off Vancouver Island on June 28, 2024. (Tasli Shaw / Humpbacks of the Salish Sea)
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) is actively searching the area using boats and aerial drones and is urging all mariners in the Salish Sea to be vigilant. Paul Cottrell, a marine mammal coordinator with the federal agency, explains that the entanglement is hard to see and would be extremely difficult to remove due to the short length of gear wrapped around the humpback.
"The animal is very mobile," Cottrell told CTV News. "It's a really unfortunate and difficult entanglement, but if we can get a working line on it, we will." The distressed humpback was first reported by the Vancouver Island-based Marine Education and Research Society, which shared the tour operator's photos on social media to help locate the whale.
The non-profit group is asking boaters to keep an eye out for the humpback but maintain a distance of at least 200 meters from it and other whales. The whale is identifiable by its unique dorsal fin. "This is a really challenging one," Cottrell said, noting that the rope appears to wrap all the way around the animal, cutting into its blubber in some areas. "There is a little bit of trailing gear, but it’s not very visible," Cottrell added.
DFO has "all eyes and ears on the water" to locate the whale. The agency is not aware of any sightings since the photos were taken on Friday. Boaters are urged to report any potential sightings of the humpback to the agency at 1-800-465-4336, with officials able to respond to sightings within an hour.
Source: Todd Coyne (Jul 2, 2024). CTV News. Entangled humpback whale in B.C. 'a really challenging' case, DFO says. https://bc.ctvnews.ca/mobile/entangled-humpback-whale-in-b-c-a-really-challenging-case-dfo-says-1.6948473?cache=ihcaobeag?clipId=104070
